Moving Offices

Moving Offices

07-17-2003, 10:34 AM

I will be moving to a new office in the next few months. I have not yet done my GTD setup and am wondering if the new office is a good way to implement this ? Has anyone done all their purging and filing as part of a move and was it successful ?
Thanks,
Jenn

I am working my way through piles and files that have been moved from one office to another over a 20 year period. If I had known about the GTD system before all these moves I would be a lot better off and the moves and their impact would have been less stressful. Even if you only get part way through you will reap rewards of:1)a list of reminders rather than a pile of them 2)phone numbers entered rather than sitting in a pile or a file 3)most likely a reduction of total mass to move because you may encounter duplicates and get rid of the extras 4)as you work you will think of projects that you want to embark on after the office move and if you have kept a record of them and how to proceed on them you may find that you are part-way to completion before you have even changed spaces. My suggestions, if I may be so bold as I am a bumbling neophyte:have a really big trash can and a smaller one for things you may want to shred, have a big pile of roledex cards if you use that system, get a labeller and lots of refill tape. think of the time as an investment in your future productivy and stress-reduction.

Comment

I'm moving to a new office in a different building in 2 months. I've been in this location for 20 years. Everytime I decided to "get organized" I filled up a filing cabinet with a different system. In between I accumulated piles of folders and loose papers in boxes and on shelves. I decided to begin implementing GTD while preparing to move - less to pack, and maybe I'll fit into my new office, which is smaller than my current one.

I collected everything "current" in my office into my version of an inbox, a bookcase. I'm processing stacks of it everyday, as well as building a collection of simple lists (I've got 4 so far: office next actions, waiting, agendas and projects).

I cleaned out the files in my office and I'm building a set of active folders organized along the a-z plan. That already paid off - I got rid of enough papers so I can fit papers and folders from my "inbox" into the file drawers. I'm learning to use the lists to replace the folders as reminders.

The bottom line is I'm glad I didn't wait until I moved, since packing is a good time to clean out archived files. Maybe by the time I move I'll be able to get my job done in 8 hours, and set off for home at 5 pm!

Comment

I am a newbie GTDer. About a year ago we rearranged the walls in my office. My folders were a mess and I still can't find some things.

I am in the process of purchasing a new building, so I know I will be moving in early 2004. I have almost finished purging and reorganizing my file cabinets (relabeling folders, throwing out the plastic label tabs on the hanging folders, making a file folder name list in Excel). I did this reorganization as part of my GTD implementation. But I am so glad I did it before the move. It will make the move so much easier. I threw away a lot of stuff that I don't need to move with.